As shown above, on Sunday, May 4, 2025 from 4:48 to 4:54 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying over the GTA in a bright pass, rising over the northwestern horizon and then flying past Cassiopeia before setting in the east near Venus and Saturn. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites are visible because…
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This annotated image of the Lyrids Meteor Shower was captured by Petr Horalek when the Lyrids streaked over Seč Lake in the Czech Republic in April, 2020. The meteors appear to radiate from a point in the sky in Hercules near the very bright blue star Vega of Lyra (the Harp). Don’t watch the radiant…
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Artificial satellites are visible because they are high enough to be bathed in sunlight while the sun is below the horizon for earthbound observers. When the geometry is just right, brilliant beams of sunlight are reflected to Earth from flat, shiny surfaces on the spacecraft – which we see as a steady point of light…
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A sampling of galaxy forms. Clockwise from upper left: Messier 87 “Virgo A” (elliptical), Messier 102 “Spindle” (lenticular), NGC 1365 (barred spiral), NGC 4656 “the Crowbar” (irregular), and Messier 81 “Bode’s Nebula” (spiral). All except NGC 1365 are visible on spring evenings from mid-northern latitudes. Hello, Mid-April Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the…
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This terrific image of the large craters Copernicus and Eratosthenes (on its right) was produced by Jerry Lodriguss on July 11, 2011 using a Celestron C11 telescope. Note the blanket of ejected material around Copernicus, its terraced interior rim, and central peaks. Jerry’s work can be enjoyed at his website www.astropix.com Hello, Moon-gazers! Here are…
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My friend Dave Chapman from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia captured this terrific image of Saturday morning’s partial solar eclipse shortly after sunrise from Seaforth, NS. Hello, April Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of March 30th, 2025 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your…
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Meteorologist, pilot, and astro-imager Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn captured this amazing shot of the August, 2017 partial solar eclipse behind Toronto’s CN Tower from Saint Catharine’s, Ontario. See more of her work at www.weatherandsky.com Hello, Late-March Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of March 23rd, 2025 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass…
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As shown above, on Thursday, March 27, 2025 from 8:41 to 8:46 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the northwestern horizon and then flying above Jupiter and Mars before entering Earth’s shadow in the east-southeastern sky below Leo. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com)…
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This magical image of the sword of Orion was captured and processed by my friend John Deans when he was in Bancroft, Ontario on February of 2021. All three patches of light from top to bottom are visible to unaided eyes below Orion’s three-starred belt. Binoculars and backyard telescopes will reveal the spectacular details in…
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As shown above, on Sunday, March 16, 2025 from 7:50 to 7:56 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the west-southwestern horizon and then flying past Jupiter and the bright star Capella before entering Earth’s shadow very low in the east-northeastern…
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